For many many years I’ve been a great fan of the music of the French composer Erik Satie. When I was in High School and studying classical piano my music teacher introduced me to the 3 Gymnopedies by Satie. So beautiful and yet so incredibly simple and complex all at the same time. It’s not so much the notes but how one phrases the notes in their slow melodic fashion that speaks from the heart. Other pieces have spoken to me in the very same way. I would include Traumerie and Clair de Lune in that category. Also Sibelius’ FINLANDIA which I’ve also done a ukulele arrangement of.

About two years ago I made a visit to the beach near my home on Puget Sound. I was struck by the balmy summer air and the beautiful sight of the Olympic Mountains in the west. The people quietly lingering around the…